Blackhawks: 3 Takeaways from Game 3 against Oilers

Coming off of an absolutely horrendous performance in the third period of Monday night’s Game 2 defeat, the Blackhawks were looking bounce back in a big way on Wednesday.

After an impressive 6-4 victory in Game 1 and the constant uphill battle that Game 2’s defeat presented, Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Qualifiers was sure to be a doozy for the Blackhawks. It certainly didn’t disappoint. Because of the best-of-five series format, the winner of Game 3 would only need to win one more matchup in order to advance to the next round of the playoffs.

Even though Edmonton is the host of the entire Western Conference portion of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Blackhawks finally got to have the opportunity to be the “home” team tonight. After suiting back up into the red sweaters and hearing another wonderful performance of the National Anthem by Jim Cornelison, Chicago was fired up and ready to roll for Game 3.

It ended up proving to be another closely fought battle. After having leads of 1-0 and 2-1, the Hawks ended up trailing 3-2 at the start of the final period. Rookie Matthew Highmore picked a great time to score his first-ever playoff goal to knot up the score with five minutes remaining. Then Captain Clutch delivered, as he has done many times in the past. Jonathan Toews was able to get enough of a piece of Slater Koekkoek‘s shot from the point to deflect the puck into the net with only 1:16 remaining. Chicago was then able to fend off the Oilers for the last minute to take a 2-1 series lead.

Here are three takeaways from tonight’s thrilling come-from-behind victory:

Takeaway #1: Kirby Dach is the Real Deal

When it was announced that Kirby Dach would stay on the Blackhawks roster throughout the entire season, some people did question the decision. It was clear that #1 pick Jack Hughes and #2 pick Kaapo Kakko were clearly ready for the NHL, but burning a year off of  Dach’s entry-level deal was a difficult decision for Stan Bowman. It turns out that this move was a very good one.

After an entire regular season (Well, almost.), Dach is looking to be potentially the best player to come out of the entire 2019 Draft class. Kirby tallied 23 points in 62 games, which was good enough to tie Kakko’s total, and was more than the 21 that Hughes produced.

When the pandemic occurred, Kirby did not slow down whatsoever. He continued training and getting stronger. Throughout training camp and now during the opening round of the playoffs, many people have started to take notice.

In the first two playoff games of his career, Dach tallied three assists. In tonight’s Game 3, he was all over the ice once again. While he did not light the lamp, (he rang one shot off of the crossbar) he still was a very noticeable player. During Olli Maatta‘s opening goal, Kirby provided an excellent screen in front of the net. Mikko Koskinen did not have a chance at stopping the biscuit.

Another noticeable aspect of his game in tonight’s matchup was his ability to win board battles and his physicality. He also has created a boatload of scoring opportunities throughout the entire series.

Speaking of creating scoring opportunities, Dach registered another assist during tonight’s win. He was credited with the primary assist on Jonathan Toews’s first goal of the night, his fourth assist of the postseason. Not many rookies have performed this well in the playoffs, and Dach is in some pretty good company.

Nearing the end of the second period, the 6-foot-4 kid laid a bruising hit on Edmonton’s Tyler Ennis. Ennis was injured on the play, however, no penalty was called. It was a perfect example of how Dach can use his big frame to cause havoc all over the ice.

Dach was rewarded for his outstanding play so far in the series. His TOI in tonight’s matchup was 23:21, which was the highest amongst the Blackhawks forwards, even beating out Patrick Kane. Overall, the only Chicago player with more minutes was Duncan Keith.

It will be very interesting to see if Kirby can keep this level of play up throughout the rest of the playoffs. If he can, it will be a very intriguing weapon that the Blackhawks can use to their advantage.

Takeaway #2: Simplicity is Key

Throughout the entire series, a lot of gritty goals have been scored by the Blackhawks. If the Hawks are able to get traffic in front of the goal and get pucks on the net, then good things are bound to happen. This was a big reason that Chicago was able to walk away victorious in tonight’s matchup.

As I mentioned earlier, Olli Maatta scored for the second consecutive game. Dach had a brilliant screen, and Matthew Highmore was also in the vicinity of the goaltender. With two bodies in front, it gave Koskinen a very difficult task to track the shot from the point.

The second goal for Chicago was also scored in a scrappy fashion. Jonathan Toews was able to redirect the puck into the net after a net mouth scramble. What caused the net mouth scramble? A strong net-front presence by Dominik Kubalik and a passing play that originated from the point.

Matthew Highmore’s first career playoff goal knotted the score up at 3 with only five minutes left in the game. It was nice to see the fourth line get involved on a tally. And how did this goal happen? Maatta was able to swing the puck over to Slater Koekkoek, who unloaded a shot from the point. Highmore was in the high slot area and had a very pretty redirect to elevate the puck over Koskinen’s left shoulder and into the back of the net.

The game-winning goal was a deflection goal as well. After Toews was able to win an offensive zone draw and drop it back to Duncan Keith, Connor Murphy fired a weak wrister at the net. Captain Serious was standing in front of Koskinen and got a deflection on the puck that caused it to allude to the goaltender. It was another great example of how to perfectly screen a goaltender.

I know I sound like a broken record at this point, but it just goes to show that this strategy and game plan has been very effective at generating offense in the series.